


ma vhenan

by annadavidson



Series: that which shaped the century (a dragon age dual au) [6]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dorianmance Week 2017, Dragon Age Dual AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 22:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9849215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annadavidson/pseuds/annadavidson
Summary: “Why do we need so much elfroot?” Dorian’s voice called after him.Summary: The first time Galen called Dorian vhenan.





	

“Why do we need so much elfroot?” Dorian’s voice called after him.

Galen paused, bent down in the snow near a patch of elfroot. He was bundled up in Dalish winter wear – the same clothes he’d worn to spy on the Conclave. Dorian was a few paces behind him, wearing a coat Josephine had ordered, upon Galen’s request. It was a Tevinter design and the perfect color to match his day to day wear. They each had a satchel slung across their shoulders and were filling it with picked elfroot.

“Elfroot does a lot,” Galen informed, though he knew Dorian’s question was more out of annoyance at the tedious task than actual curiosity. More than likely, Dorian already knew multiple applications for the herb. He stood up, clutching the strap of his satchel with both hands, and grinned at the other man. “Are you not having fun?”

“Oh no,” came the reply, dripping with sarcasm. “I love the cold, and constantly bending over to pick up Haven’s weeds – Why it’s great for my back!”

He saw the opportunity and unashamedly took it. “I asked you to help me with this bending over and picking up weeds.”

“I’m aware,” Dorian muttered irritably, coming to stand in front of the elf. He couldn’t figure out why Galen was still grinning at him.

“Are you saying you don’t like bending over for me?”

It was moments like these where he managed to surprise Dorian. With how easily shy and flustered Galen could get, the moments where he could flirt so blatantly without stammering about always seemed to catch him off guard. He admittedly liked that. The seemingly innocent and sweet Herald had a naughty side. It was certainly intriguing.

He took a step forward, invading the other man’s personal space. “Perhaps I’d rather _you_ bend over for _me.”_ He expected Galen to fall apart into a blushing, flustered mess, but while a faint blush did darken his cheeks, the flustering never came. Instead the other man’s grin grew wider.

“If that’s what you want,” came the teasing reply, “All you have to do is ask, _vhenan.”_

Dorian’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What does that mean?”

Galen blanked, genuinely as confused as the man in front of him. “What does what mean?”

“What you just called me,” he pointed out, _“Vhenan?”_

Any trace of a smile vanished and this time, the blush reached all the way up to the tips of Galen’s pointed ears. He stared, wide-eyed, at Dorian for what felt like several minutes before he found his voice, “I didn’t say that.”

Dorian frowned faintly, his confusion only growing. “Yes, you did.”

“I did?”

_“Yes.”_

“Oh,” Galen said shortly before turning on his heels and the conversation, “We uh – We should continue collecting herbs. I’d hate to not be finished before dark.”

Dorian cocked an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by the obvious attempt to change the subject. “Are you going to tell me what it means?”

“How far do you think we can wander from camp?”

“You dodge questions the same way you dodge swords,” he sighed, earning a stubborn look from Galen, who knew that wasn’t a compliment. From what he’d seen, the young Herald was terrible at dodging attacks. A sword swinging at Galen often ended with the elf yelping in surprise, and Aya on the attacker, her daggers slashing ruthlessly into flesh, protectively acting like a barrier between her brother and danger.

Dorian thought it must be nice to have someone so adamant on protecting you, but he couldn’t help thinking that in the end, it would be better if Galen learned to protect himself, to not lean so heavily on his sister. It was a burden he knew Aya would carry, but not one she should always have to bear.

He followed Galen, trudging through the snow, coming farther and farther from the safety of Haven. He stubbornly refused to pick up any more elfroot until his question was answered, instead leaning to the side against a bare tree, his arms folded across his chest. For the most part, he watched Galen, knelt in the snow, plucking a collection of elfroot and shoving them into his satchel. Occasionally he would take his eyes off the other man to look around their surroundings. It was a bit concerning that Galen never once looked up from his task. He seemed so focused that even a blundering bear could sneak up on him.

Neither of them had brought their staffs, but a staff wasn’t necessary for them to cast spells. Still, if anyone was coming, he would hopefully see them before they posed a danger.

“Are you going to help?” Galen asked, frowning over his shoulder at the mage.

Dorian shrugged nonchalantly. “Are you going to answer my question?”

 “Which question?” Galen did his best to look innocent. It almost worked. _Almost._

“You know which question,” Dorian stated, looking as unimpressed as he felt.

Galen let himself fall back, sitting in the snow and leaning back on his gloved hands. He looked up at Dorian expectantly.

Dorian shook his head, remaining where he stood against the tree. “I’d rather not freeze my ass off.”

A small grin reappeared. “You’re not already freezing your ass off?”

When no reply came, Galen shrugged and looked away. He admittedly didn’t think he needed to be constantly aware of his surroundings. He knew that as an elf, his hearing and sight were better than Dorian’s. All it took was one look around, and he was confident that they were alone, aside from the occasional nug running by. When he closed his eyes, he focused on his hearing. If anyone was approaching, they were too far away for him to hear.

His eyes snapped open at the sound of someone plopping down into the snow at his side. He looked to surprisingly see Dorian begrudgingly sitting there. Dorian stared off into the distance, though he was aware of Galen’s emerald eyes trained on him.

“It doesn’t mean anything bad,” Galen said eventually.

Dorian met his gaze. “Is that so?”

He shook his head. “I’d never say anything bad about you.”

“Not even to Elaith?” If it wasn’t for the smirk on Dorian’s face, Galen would have thought he was upset about that.

Instead, the young man huffed. “That happened _once.”_

Dorian lightly chuckled. “As far as I’m aware.”

Galen laughed – a pleasant, warm sound – and gently bumped Dorian’s arm with his own. Moments like this were his favorites. Aside from their talking, it was quiet. They were far enough away from Haven that he couldn’t hear the sounds of soldiers preparing for war. The sounds of the mages and Templars bickering, Elaith trying to help Cullen and Cassandra keep the peace. The sounds of a war being waged were far enough away that he could almost pretend they didn’t exist. _Almost._

Moments like this were made even better, he’d found, when Dorian was there. The quiet was always nice with friends like Aya and Elaith – and new friends he’d met through the Inquisition. But he’d started to look forward to moments like this with Dorian. When it was just the two of them. It made him happy to just be around the other mage. The last time he had felt this way, the last time someone had made him this happy just to be around them, just to hear their voice, to see them smile at him… The last time he had been in love.

But to fall for someone so quickly…

It honestly felt more like he had tripped and fallen into Dorian’s arms. Was it silly to say he felt that strongly about someone he hadn’t known for that long? It wasn’t as if they’d met only a few days ago, it had been longer than that. But Dorian had certainly held his attention from the moment they’d met. He had admittedly never been so interested in a human before, especially not that quickly.

It was obvious when he liked someone, though, to himself and those he had grown up with or known before the Inquisition. It was the same as when he’d had a crush on Elaith or fallen in love with Rasha. He spent as much time with them as possible, and he was currently doing that with Dorian. There was always the nagging feeling, that voice in his head that wouldn’t go away, saying he was spending too much time with him, that he was bothering Dorian, that he was being _clingy._

He didn’t want to tell Dorian what it meant when the Dalish called someone _vhenan._ It was too early to even wonder if he felt the same way. Did anyone else fall as quickly as he did? It felt like he was alone. He fell too fast, too hard. It would lead to heartbreak… It had before.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Dorian looking at him with some concern.

“Everything alright?”

He hesitated, his mind blanking. Telling himself that Dorian meant in the moment, not overall, big picture is he okay, helped him work out the words to an answer. “Just thinking.”

“About anything in particular?” came the follow up question.

 _You,_ he thought, but didn’t think he could answer. Dorian sometimes flirted with him but that didn’t necessarily mean his feelings would be returned, even in the smallest bit. Some people found it easy to flirt with someone they weren’t attracted to. Galen could playfully flirt with Elaith or Nova, and any feelings toward them were purely platonic.

“It’s nothing,” he answered eventually, once he was able to find his voice. He sat forward, resting his arms on his knees, eyes staring at the snow.

There was a pause before he heard Dorian’s voice again, “Does it have anything to do with calling me _vhenan?_ Is it a Dalish thing?” A nod was all the answer he got. “Are you not supposed to call humans _vhenan?_ Are you upset that you called me that?” He waited for Galen to answer with more than a nod this time. He could practically see Galen’s mind working, figuring out what he wanted to say.

“It’s… You give it to someone you care about,” he explained, looking up at the other man. It wasn’t a lie. It just left out some of the truth. “Sometimes just to one person – others can want to call more than one person by it, but I… Just one for me. It’s um – It’s frowned upon to use it for a shemlan – a _human.”_

Dorian nodded slowly, thinking it over. “You care about me, yes?” A part of him wanted to ask in what way, but he could see in Galen’s body language, his expression, that he didn’t want the topic to go on much further. The young man beside him was growing uncomfortable. “That’s what it means?”

Galen nodded. “Yeah, that’s what it means. I care about you.” He left the words _too much_ unspoken.

“Well don’t I feel special,” Dorian said, a playful grin on his face.

Galen smiled softly, pulling his legs up against his chest and resting his head on his knees, returning Dorian’s gaze. He wanted to tell him that he was special. He wanted to tell him that he was very special to him, but he just couldn’t find the words. He silently told himself that one day, one day he would tell Dorian what it really meant when he called him _vhenan._ One day, he would tell Dorian how he felt… Even if it meant finding out that those feelings weren’t returned.

**Author's Note:**

> Like/reblog on Tumblr [here](http://magicrobins.tumblr.com/post/157534559625/ma-vhenan).


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